With the increased use and adoption of cellular phones, communication by short message service (SMS) has increased dramatically. SMS is a text messaging service typically used for short message communication between cellular or mobile telephones. SMS messages allow the exchange of electronic messages of a predetermined number of characters between mobile telephones, even across different cellular carriers. Because of the simple and expedient nature of SMS messaging, it has become a widely-adopted communication option.
Users still rely upon other types of communication, however, such as e-mail. In certain aspects, communication by SMS messages is more difficult than e-mail because most mobile devices lack the full QWERTY keyboard of a desktop computer, for example. Still, because users typically carry their mobile devices with them, communication by SMS messages is usually available, even when communication by e-mail is not. Also, the likelihood of reaching a person by SMS message is generally considered to be higher than the likelihood of reaching the person by e-mail, especially if speed is an important factor, because users often carry mobile devices.
An outgoing SMS messages is generally addressed to a telephone number of a mobile telephone. Along the same lines, an outgoing e-mail message is generally addressed to an e-mail address of an e-mail account. Because of network, protocol, and addressing differences, among other differences, communication between SMS messaging and e-mail is not generally available. That is, a user cannot draft an e-mail as an SMS message and deliver the message to a user of a mobile device such as a smart phone. Also, a user of a mobile device cannot draft an SMS message as an e-mail and deliver the message to a user of a computer. Similarly, communication between e-mail and facsimile is not generally available, for example, without specialized systems for interfacing.
In this context, it would be advantageous to have the ability to address an outgoing e-mail message to an SMS recipient. Also, it would be advantageous to have the ability to maintain a conversation between an e-mail account and mobile device, interfacing the e-mail account with the SMS service of the mobile device.